South West Water says it is 'sincerely sorry' for the current issues surrounding the burst sewer pipe in Phear Park.

In December last year, a series of bursts were found on the pipe between the Plumb Park housing estate and Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works. 

The burst occurred due to the condition of the pipe, which was unexpected because it was not known to have deteriorated and had only burst once in the previous 20 years.

Due to the condition the pipe was found to be in, South West Water decided to replace the entire section. This is roughly 500-metres long and is due to be completed by the end of this month.

To address the initial burst, a temporary overland pipe to bypass the damaged section. After this, three further bursts on other parts of this section of pipe were spotted on February 13.

While repairing or putting in sections of overland pipe to bypass the burst, tankers were bought in to take flows from Phear Park Pumping Station to Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works. That work is now complete and the overland pipe runs from Plumb Park to Maer Lane. The tankers have now been stood down, but a small number in the area as a precaution.

The 500-metre section of pipe which runs from Plumb Park housing estate to Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works is now being repaired. Since 2008, replacement and relining work has been carried out to the other section of this main, which runs from the housing estate to Phear Park Pumping Station. This means that the entire main from Phear Park to Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works will have been upgraded when the repair is completed.

They say that they are now 'working on a long-term solution for Exmouth'.

John Halsall, chief operating officer of South West Water said: "I’d like to take the opportunity to sincerely apologise to anyone who has been affected and to explain what issues we have faced and what steps we are taking to ensure this doesn’t happen again. There has been some misunderstanding about the work at times.

"We really appreciate that the tankering caused disruption for customers in the area and we are sincerely sorry for that. This was the least worst option available to us but we understand it was far from ideal.

"We have been in regular contact with the Environment Agency throughout the duration of the works and we have been keeping them updated on our progress. We have also been providing updates to the council, the local MP, local media and customers. We know how much it means to everyone to get the information they want, when they want it. Different people are interested in different aspects of this repair and so it is very difficult to update everyone, all the time, but we are working as hard as we can to keep everyone informed and we know we can do better.

"Once again, I would like to reiterate how sorry I am personally to local residents for the ongoing issues in Exmouth and I really appreciate their continued patience. I would also like to thank all of our operational teams who have worked hard in an extremely challenging situation, and who continue to work hard on the long-term solution for Exmouth."